São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro want to end the transportation mafia.

247 – City councilors in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro could provide a positive response to the protests demanding quality public transportation if they proceed with investigations into contracts between the City Hall and bus companies. In the city councils of both capitals, the process of establishing a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on the subject is underway. In Rio, the necessary number of signatures for the CPI has already been reached, with 27 (a minimum of 17 was required). Meanwhile, in São Paulo, the establishment, which could have occurred yesterday, was postponed to this Wednesday, the 26th.

The authors of the proposals in both cities speak of "opening the black box." This is because, generally, there is no transparency regarding the relationship between companies and municipal government: the companies' cost spreadsheets are not disclosed, nor is the way in which business owners allocate resources to the service, which is of poor quality in both places. There is also mention of a promiscuous relationship between the City Hall and companies, which are known for being major donors to political campaigns.

"We will only be able to deal with this collapse if we have the courage to delve deep into what guided the current system and the vices that this system has," says councilman Ricardo Young (PPS), author of the request for the São Paulo CPI. "We want to investigate the promiscuous relationship between the municipal executive and the bus companies and provide transparency to all data and information about the system, so that society can have a true picture of how the service is organized, and from then on, we can discuss the public transport model we want," stated Eliomar Coelho, who filed the request to open the CPI in Rio yesterday.

São Paulo

The Attorney General of São Paulo, Márcio Fernando Elias Rosa, said that the Public Prosecutor's Office has already requested the cost breakdown spreadsheets for the city's public transportation fares from the City Hall. According to him, the objective is not to question the composition of the fares, but rather to understand how they are structured and, if necessary, request clarifications to better define the issue. Rosa reports that a civil inquiry is already underway at the Housing and Urban Planning Prosecutor's Office in the capital regarding this matter.

According to a report in Folha de S.Paulo, an investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office reveals that the balance sheets of bus companies operating in the city show losses, but that their owners engage in multimillion-dollar transactions. Some of these transactions are even considered atypical by COAF – the Council for the Control of Financial Activities – a federal agency that investigates money laundering. "It is suspected that the owners of the companies are involved in the embezzlement of funds, the exchange of new vehicles for old ones, and even the sale of bus routes that should not be sold, as they are a concession from the city hall," notes an editorial from Tuesday.

In an interview on the TV Cultura program Roda Viva, Lucas Monteiro, a member of the Free Fare Movement – ​​which initiated the protests that have been taking place in the country for about two weeks – highlighted the difficulty in obtaining these spreadsheets from the São Paulo City Council. According to him, there is a shielding of the city's bus companies by some politicians. In Tuesday's session, the opposition accused Fernando Haddad's base of carrying out a "maneuver" to delay the installation of the Commission.

Rio de Janeiro

In Rio de Janeiro, the situation seems even more obscure. While in São Paulo the sector's expenses are controlled by the City Hall, in Rio the companies' cost spreadsheets are handled by the Federation of Passenger Transport Companies of the State (Fetranspor) and Rio Ônibus, which pass the figures on to the municipal executive. Even though the transport is a public concession, there is no way to know how much profit the companies make, and they do not provide any information about their expenses and earnings.

The service, of course, is terrible, as are the working conditions of drivers and conductors. The controversial aspect is that there is no pressure whatsoever from the government or the city hall regarding the situation: buses are always overcrowded, broken down, running off schedule, and with precarious safety. Last month, for example, was marked by pedestrian and cyclist accidents. This led to an operation by Procon-RJ (the consumer protection agency of Rio de Janeiro), which began checking the maintenance, safety, and documentation of vehicles in the garages. On inspection days, dozens of buses are prevented from circulating.

One of the main accusations in the city is that the appointment of the state Secretary of Transportation is made by the owners of the bus companies. video posted In early May, protesting the frequent pedestrian accidents in the capital, federal deputy Anthony Garotinho harshly criticized the issue. According to him, transportation in Rio has "become chaos," mainly because the current secretary, Júlio Lopes, "understands absolutely nothing" about the subject, since he was "imposed" by the owners of the companies. According to the PR party leader, "Júlio Lopes is not the Secretary of Transportation, he is the Secretary of the businessmen." In his speech, Garotinho appealed to the governor, Sérgio Cabral, and the mayor, Eduardo Paes, to change the situation.